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Holiday Attire Survival Guide

Jan Bolick

On Wednesday, September 12, 2001, Ms. Hall, a 6th grade Social Studies teacher at Phillips Middle School, gave her students an assignment: Pretend to be the President of the United States and write a letter to America. It was a brilliant assignment – a wonderful way to help these eleven year olds (and their parents) think about, talk about and attempt to understand the events of the previous day and what they meant to us – as individuals, as families and as a country. Here is the letter my son wrote that day. Dear America, As you have, I have been watching the news feeling so sad and so angry. Much has been said of bombing them right back. However, we do not want to provoke the Afghanistan people to bounce back and hit us. As well, we do not want to start a war between the US haters and us. However, we would win, it would come with loss of both our barracks as well as theirs. Right now we just need to bump up security in all places, especially in airports as well as in our very own households. This is not to make you scared, but to make you aware and ready. Now we also have to mourn for the victims, their families and friends. A nation so great, humbleness can do nothing in this case...

If you’ve been waiting for a knight in shining armor, your wait will be over in days – as long as scarlet is okay. The Scarlet Knights from Rutgers University will be here this weekend. Let’s greet them with a warm “Welcome to Carolina”. If you run a business in town, ask your staff members to do the same. For more on this, see Welcome to Notre Dame. For an added touch,prepare your staff with tidbits like: Rutgers University is in Newark, New Jersey. Their colors are red and black. They are the Scarlet Knights. Post signs like these...

Click here to listen, read below, or both! A few years ago, Art, Ryan and I went to South Bend, Indiana for the Carolina/ Notre Dame game. When we checked into our hotel, the desk clerk said, “Welcome to Notre Dame”. We went out to eat and the hostess said, ” Welcome to Notre Dame.” The parking lot attendant at the game greeted us with, “Welcome to Notre Dame.” Volunteers manning the crosswalks said, “Welcome to Notre Dame.” Workers in the campus bookstore and the students selling hotdogs said, “Welcome to Notre Dame.” It...

Carolina’s opening football game is just a week away. Does your business have a game plan for game day? If you aren’t a Carolina fan and/or not a football fan, I urge you to adopt that old reminder about what to do when in Rome. In other words – don’t miss this built in opportunity to boost your business. When Kenan Stadium is sold out, that means 63,000 tickets have been purchased. The estimated economic impact is $7.8 million which generates $546,000 in sales tax – an extremely important source of revenue for our state and local governments – now more so than ever....

Have you invited everyone to bring their dogs to work on Friday in celebration of National Dog Day? Will you post photos of all office pups on the National Dog Day Facebook page? Will you be watching Lassie re-runs while you serve up a hot dog luncheon buffet? Will you put a big bowl of water outside your door for any pups who happen to wander by…and perhaps leave it there year round? Whether or not you choose to celebrate National Dog Day with one of these somewhat silly sounding ideas, which, by the way, tend to boost morale,...

How are mistakes handled in your organization? Is there a Mistake Management Plan? One that facilitates masterful mistake management? One that helps you make the best of the way things turn out – including a good return on investment? Kim Duval planned a surprise birthday party for her husband, Bill. It was to be held at one of his favorite spots, Studio 91, and his favorite carrot cake from Sugarland Bakery was to be served. A few hours before the party, Kim and two of her kids went to Sugarland to pick up the cake. It wasn’t ready. It wasn’t even in the works. In fact, there was no sign of the order Kim had called in days earlier. When Kim told me about this, she described Sugarland owner, Katrina Ryan as ““the Queen of Calm and Customer Service Extraordinaire”. Kim said, “She simply and sincerely shared her regret that a mistake had been made and rolled out her red carpet to the three of us.” ”Red carpet treatment” meant that Kim and her crew got to enjoy coffee, multiple samplings of gelato, plus a much needed break to relax and decompress from a hectic day of work, school and party prep. All while Katrina “worked her magic”. Twenty minutes later, the cake was ready. It was beautiful. And it was free. Kim, the kids and the cake got to the...

Every organization needs a mistake management plan – preferably one that fosters MASTERFUL mistake management. It’s a must for doing good business. That’s because as hard as we may try to avoid making mistakes, we all make them from time to time. And what happens after that is critical to our success. If you aren’t sure what I mean by this, read The Heaven and Hell of Making Things Right. Whether you need to start from scratch to develop a mistake management plan or simply need some tips for tweaking, please join us for Mistake Management Month– an annual Business...

During his statement to the press on Friday afternoon, Carolina’s newly appointed Interim Head Football Coach, Everett Withers, referred to a quote which he said had hung on his wall for a couple of years: Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. John Wooden It was a perfect choice for the occasion – an encouraging nudge for all in the Carolina community right now. In support of Withers, we’ve have made it our Quote of the Week. It’s also perfect for the launch of Mistake Management Month – an annual Business Class tradition during which we observe the way individuals, leaders and teams manage mistakes – and the resulting impact on their organizations. The purpose is to promote the benefits and how-to’s of masterful mistake management which has a way of helping people make the best of the way things turn out. I’ll share a few stories during the month. Would love to hear from you too. Got any stories to share about a mistake you, a colleague or vendor made and how it was handled? Please share below or send it to...

Lemons-to-lemonade stories can be powerful leadership tools, which is one reason I love sharing them with people. Some people roll their eyes at them though. That is – until something in their life goes sour and then man oh man are they glad to remember about that story they heard. So I hope you will keep sharing such stories – with me and them. Here’s a new one for you. A lemons-to-lemonade story. With a twist. Five of us went to the The Flying Burrito in Chapel Hill on Friday night. Lidia took our drink order. I ordered...

I’ve left you waiting long enough. I recently wrote about parking and then led you on by promising more. If you have no intention of meeting any time soon, no need to keep reading. But if you do, I can tell you that you would be in good hands at The Aloft Hotel. At least, that was my experience when I was there recently, helping a client facilitate a few meetings and training programs. Lots of extras and attention to detail, to more than just parking signs. 1. When I arrived each day, the room was set up perfectly. Sounds simple, but rare at many meeting sites. 2. There were extras on the tables like candy and toys. Also rare. 3. The requested screen was missing on the first day. Turns out that this was intentional. The event staff first wanted to see if their big screen television (for which there would be no extra charge), would suit our needs. It didn’t and so the screen (for a fee) was delivered within minutes. 4. An extra table was needed and was brought in quickly. No fuss. No extra charge. 5. A meeting participant needed handouts hole punched. Easy. Done fast and free. 6. Another meeting participant had a blowout on the way in from Charlotte. AAA towed her and her car 70 miles to a nearby tire dealership. While the rest of us got the...

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